Check stamping machine



March 15, 1960 H. A. MINTZ CHECK STAMPING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 7, 1956 lNl/ENTO/Z HENRY A. M/NTZ By g AT OR EV March 15, 1960 H. A. MINTZ 2,928,343

CHECK STAMPING MACHINES Filed March '7, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I02 6" 6 c5 FIRST LINE Q FIG. 5

2 log ;09 Ill HENRY A. M/NTZ BY ATTORNEY March 15, 1960 H. A. MINTZ CHECK STAMPING MACHINES Filed March 7, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 3 38 L4 /7 v i 6-30 /6 L. A;

/NVEN7'O/2 HENRY A. M/NTZ By a - ATTORNEY United rates CHECK STAMPING MACHINE Henry A. Mintz, Norwood, Mass.

Application March 7, 1956, Serial No. 569,982

3 Claims. (Cl. 101-407) bank, are printed on the face of each check in check.

books issued by the bank. Heretofore this has been done by standard printing machines which are large and expensive and which require the separate checks to be so printed and which are then bound into a check book. As a result, such personalized printing is expensive and time consuming. Thus a need has arisen for a small, compact machine which is able to perform such printing on check books which are already bound and to do so in such a short periodof time that it is feasible for the bank depositor to wait while it is being done.

This invention consists of a machine which satisfies all of the above desirable needs and is of such flexibility as to adapt itself to various sizes of checks'andvarious arrangements of printing. The invention consists of a stamping machine using heated type to stamp the printing through a foil carrying the desired color ink onto the face of each check. A flexible clamping device'is used to adjust itself to various sizes of check books and to clamp the bound edge of the book, thus enabling each individual check to be turned out of the path of the stamping type mounted on a rotatable arm, after the check has been stamped, thus enabling all-the checks in the book to be stamped in succession without removing them from the binding. Novel spacing and aligning devices are also incorporated in the machin'e so that the checks may be mounted accurately in such a position that the printing appears in exactly the desired position.

The foregoing and other novel aspects of this invention will be best understood from the following description of exemplifications thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of the novel check stamping machine;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top view of one form of check clamping and aligning assembly ready to receive a check book;

Fig. 4 is a view of the arrangement of Fig. 3 with a so outwardly due to thepressure of the cam 22. Due to I check book clamped therein; I

Fig. 5 is a top view of another form of check clamping and aligning assembly;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the arrangement of Fig. 5 with the type aligning bar in position to locate the checks for the printing of a line of type spaced from the line of type for which Fig. 5 is adjusted;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3 and showing the clamping bar and clamping lever in the open position;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 4 and showing the members of Fig. 7 in the closed or clamping position;

aten't' made of a suitable material, such as foam rubber, to en- Fig. 9 is a fragmentary bottom view of the embodiment 7 shown in Figs. 3 and 4 with portions in section; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary bottom view of the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The check printing mechanism is illustrated as being incorporated in a stamping machine of the type as de scribed and claimed in the patent to Henry A. Mintz,

No. 2,604,387, for Automatic-Foil-Feeding Mechanism.

The device includes a sub-base: V 1, upon which is mounted a base plate 2 to which is se-.

for Stamping Machines.

rotated. In order to provide a mounting member for the; check clamping and aligning mechanism, a pedestal 9 is rigidly secured to the base plate 2 and is in a location preferably directly below the pallet 7 in its stamping position.

For the purpose of supporting the check book to be stamped, a supporting plate member 10 is adapted to be placed upon the pedestal 9 and retained in proper posi tion by pins 11 carried by plate 10 and received in cor.- responding holes in the pedestal 9. Screws 12, passing through holes in plate 10 and tapped into the top'of ped-i estal 9, fasten plate 10 removably, yet securely, in place.

To retain the check book in place, the plate 10 is pro vided at one edge thereof with a clamping bar 13, to thelower side of which is secured a soft, resilient pad 14,

gage the checkbook without marring its surface. The

clamping bar 13 is carried by two rods 15, 15 slidably mounted in openings 16, 16 in a mounting block 17. The

mounting block 17 is secured to the underside of plate: 10 by means of screws 18, 18. The bar 13 is biased to-;. 'ward its opened position by means of springs 19, 19 surrounding rods 15 and received in enlarged openings formed at the upper ends of the openings 16. Secured to the lower ends of rods 15 is a stilt spring bar 20 re-: 1 tained in place by nuts 21, 21 threaded onto the lower ends of rods 15.

In order to actuate clamping bar 13, a cam 22 is rotatably mounted by means of a shaft 23 in an opening 24 cut 4 through the block 17. The 'cam 22 isfixed' to the shaft-'- 23 which passes through the block17 and is bent to form a crank arm 25 carrying a handle 26 at its outer end.

The plate 10 is provided with an opening 27 so that, in. the opened position, the cam- 22 may extend therethrough.

A stop 23 limits the motion of the cam in its opened position.

As the handle 26 is rotated from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the position shown 'in Fig. 8, the cam 22 engages the upper surface of the bar .20 and forces it downwardly against the action of the springs 19. The movement of the bar 20 carries the rods 15 downward and thus forces the clamping bar down into its clamping T In this position a check book 29 may be" position. clamped between the pad 14 and the upper surface of plate 10. In the clamped position, the bar 20 may bow the fact that the depth of the bow is determined by the clamping position by a stop30.

The orientation and location of the printing onjthe checks is an important aspect of the machine. For this 4 2,928,343 Patented Mar. 15, 1960 I purpose one' 'edg'e of the checkbook is adapted to engage a spacingbar 31. This bar ispivotally mounted at its ends on a pair of links 32, 32 which in turn are 'pivotally.

' moun ed at pivo s 3 ,333 on. th lower ide P ats-1 Fi '9)" a way ha t'a ar more .9 to ep-argue wi h the ed fP ts 1.0 1d' h s m t checkbook '29 will always be oriented with. its printing parell it th ed hr e he k: f the links 3 3 is engagedby a spring pressed rod 34 to bias the 1 he plate 10.1 The rod 34 is bar 31 toward the edge of 7 received in a tube 35 secured to the bottomof plate i y sc ew 3 A p n w e i the tabs f ds e i iQ PFSSR h lin fl rsns sed b rhd 34, is moved" in theoppositedirection by an adjust-1.

able screw rodBS threaded through 131901;:17. Theouter' lineof typewill appear on each check so as to be able to clamp the check book 29 in its proper position. For

7 this purpose,,plate 10 is provided with an indexnumber 40,'the index end 41 of which will indicate the exact location of one end of the line of type, as shown, for 1 example, in Fig. 4. The index member is mounted on a plate 42 providedwith a tab 43 which is hinged onto a' block 44 secured to the lower sideofplate 10 by means of a screw 45. a

, Thedetails'of the mechanism carried by the arm 5 are described and claimed in the-above-rnentioned Patent-No.

' 2604387 and also in the patent to Henry A. Mintz, No.

2,591,369 for Stamping Machine s. Since such details do notform of this; invention, they will not bade scribed-in detail herein.- Th'at mechanism includes means for moving a printing; foil 46 froma spool 47Lover the face ofa line of printing type 48 secured in the pallet].

This type is heated 'by-an electrical heating element-(not shown) located within the body [of the palletj The printing foils used in machines of this kind usna lly con 40 The lateral edge of the checkbook, in this second modsist of a strip of paper or plastic coated on oneside with an ink which, under the action of thejheated type, is-' transferred to the surface of the check to be stamped: Since the surfaceiof each check is cool, the ink sets immediately and no danger of smudgingexists even though the checks are turned on top of each other as the stamp ing of each one rapidly follows the other. i

In order to provide the proper surface beneath the stamping-area, the'plate 10 is provided with an opening 49 which receives an impression pad 50 made of suitable resilient material, such as several layers of cardboard;

The operation of the machine is as follows. The han-. dle 26 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 3 and'the index member 40 rotated out of the way, as shown in Fig. 3. A check book 29 is-slipped under the clamping r 1 r This completes the description of the foregoing embodiments of this invention, in which many equivalents g of the details described will suggest themselves to those bar 13 and the index member 40 turned back onto the face of the check book; Withthe edge of'the check book 29 held against the bar 31, tl1'e knob 39 is turned until'th eindex end Al indicates thatthe line of type will occur at the properlevel; The check book 29 isthen slid along the bar 31 until it contacts' the right-hand edge of plateg42, in which position the end of the line of type will occur at the proper point.

of the .wayof the stamping member. .Either at this point or. previously, the desired lines of type.48is set up in the'pallet] and-the foil 46 pulled over the face' f: h weallas describ in Patent No.

- 2,.6 387 Threuponthe and e .8 'ispu ed d n to printthe linebf yp a ndica ed a 5lz n ig The topcheck then turned back since the open end of the check book has been left free: Each check maythen f be printed rapidly one after the other.

" asserts i The handle 26 is moved to the position shown in' Fig. 4 to clampthe checkbook- 29 in position and'the. index member is then rotated out line of type set upand that line stamped at the new desiredlocation on thefface of'thecheck;

Where a plurality ofilinesfof type is to be printed on a check face at predetermined distances apart, as, for

i 5 example,-in the upper left-handc'orner of a check, the

modification illustrated in Figs. 5 and6 may be used. In these figures, wherethe elements are the same as in i the previous embodiment, the same reference numbers are used. Imthiserribodiinent the plate 166 .-corresponds 10: to the plate 10. Theiclamping bar13 and its associated mechanism are mountedon theopposite side of the plate frornwhere itis mounted on the plateltl. The alignment of the edge of the check hook is'carried out by" meansof an alignment bar 101i This bar is of a pris- 15 moidal form, such as square, in cross-section and is mountedto be :rotated about its longitudinal axis on a shaft 102, journalled in a block 103 (see Fig. 10) secured to the lower surface of "plate 100 by screws 104. The other end of thebar .101 is journalled in the block .17 20. which carries the shaft 23 for the clamping cam 22. The

bar .101 may be rotatcdby a knob 105 secured to the outerend of shaft 102. The bar 101 is held in eachof its positionsjof rotation by a flat spring 106 riveted to thelower'face of plate, 100 and having its flat free end 25 pressing-against the flat sides of the bar 101. The bar lfll carries' a pair of pins 107 which are fastened-through the bar 101 adjacent one edge. When the bar 101 is-rotated into the position aslshown in Fig. 5, one set of'ends of the pins 107 lies closer to the edge of plate 100. V 30 When the bar 101 is turned over into the position shown in Fig. 6, the opposite ends of the pins 107 he farther from the edge of the plate 100. The, plate'lflt is 'cut away at 108 to permit passage of the pins 107 as the'bar 101 is rotated. Thus it willbeseen; that a check printed 35 with its edge pressed against the pins 107 in each of the 7 'two operative positions thereof will have two lines of type spaced apart'by twicethe distance by which the'pins 107 are spacedfrom the longitudinal center line of bar ificatio'mis located byme'ans of a stud 109 carried bya. pin 110*extending'throu'gh a slot 111 in plate 100. The lower end of pin 110 is'retained by a washer 112 and by. a flatspring 1 13 riveted to the lower end of the pin 110.

45 Theflat spring bears against washer 112 and thus yield ably retains stud 109 into whatever position it is moved bythe operator. j r

In this embodimentthe checkbook is aligned by. the

pins 107 and the stud 109. It isthen clamped in place checks; 1

. skilled in the art.

- Whatis claimedis:

60 i 1. A check'stamping machine comprising a basecarrying a support plate adapted to supporta check book to be stamped, stamping means movably mounted with re- -spect to said ba'se, said stamping means being adapted" to support a lineo'f stamping type, said stamping means .65 being movableinto a stamping position at which said stamping type is adapted to be imprinted upon saidchc'ck book, a stopmember adjustably supported with respect to said plate and having portions of'said stop mernber adapted to engage a lateraledge of said check bools, .70 means formoying saidstop member into apluralityof positionswherein saidportions arespaced at desireddistances from said stamping position, aclamping bar ovcrr, lying one. ,endof said plate and normally spaced from i 'saidplate a suflicientdistance to receive onefend. ofsaid 15 check book, saidclamping-bar being carried by frods' slid ably passing through said plate and spring biased away from said plate, a fiat spring member bridging said rods on the side of said plate opposite from said clamping bar, and a cam member rotatably mounted with respect to said plate and being rotatable into engagement with said spring member to move said spring member away from said plate whereby said clamping bar is forced toward said plate to clamp said check book in position between said bar and plate.

2. A check stamping machine comprising a base carrying a support plate adapted to support a check book to be stamped, stamping means movably mounted with respect to said base, said stamping means being adapted to support a line of stamping type, said stamping means being movable into a stamping position at which said stamping type is adapted to be imprinted upon said check book, an elongated bar having the ends of a pair of links of substantially equal lengths pivoted to spaced points on said bar, the opposite ends of said links being pivoted to said plate, one side of said bar being adapted to engage a lateral edge of said check book, means for rotating said links into a plurality of positions wherein said side of said bar is spaced at desired distances from said stamping position, and clamping means for clamping one end of said check book in position on said plate.

3. A check stamping machine comprising a base carrying a support plate adapted to support a check book to be stamped, stamping means movably mounted with respect to said base, said stamping means being adapted to support a line of stamping type, said stamping means being movable into a stamping position at which said stamping type is adapted to be imprinted upon said check book, an elongated bar mounted on said plate rotatably about a longitudinal axis of said bar, said bar having stop members projecting from different sides of said bar, means for rotating said bar into a plurality of fixed positions with said stop members fixed to engage a lateral edge of said check book, said stop members being located at different positions from said stamping position in the various fixed positions of said bar, and clamping means for clamping one end of said check book in position on said plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 874,790 Patterson Dec. 24, 1907 891,150 Crowley June 16, 1908 896,062 Mann Aug. 11, 1908 1,242,454 Littlefield Oct. 9, 1917 1,294,012 Winter Feb. 11, 1919 1,665,099 Kiesling Apr. 3, 1928 1,684,934 Woodworth Sept. 18, 1928 1,765,859 Bartel June 24, 1930 1,801,197 Halvorsen Apr. 14, 1931 1,819,158 Gale Aug. 18, 1931 1,829,004 Howard Oct. 27, 1931 1,861,208

Carmichael May 31, 1932 

